Current AffairsMánes reopens after major renovation but can gallery reach former heights?

One of Prague’s most distinctive art spaces is reopening after a major
renovation, with the Mánes gallery hosting its first art show in more than
two years from Wednesday. But will the venue be able to regain the
significance it held in the past?

Mánes gallery, photo: Filip Jandourek
The Functionalist Mánes gallery – standing on a tributary between the
quayside in Prague and Slovanský island – was built as the permanent
home of the Mánes Union of Fine Arts, a group named after the 19th century
artist Josef Mánes.

Before it opened its doors in September 1930 it hosted the 80th birthday
celebrations of Czechoslovakia’s first president T.G. Masaryk, who had
been an important backer of the project.

Mánes was not just an art space but a social centre and its outdoor
restaurant was a lively spot in the summer months.

It was again the centre of events in 1989, when the opposition Civic Forum
used it to print posters during the Velvet Revolution.

However, it later fell into disrepair and the group that operate it
launched a major and costly renovation in spring 2012.

Many notable local artists have exhibited at Mánes over the years,
including Jiří Votruba, who had showed his work there in the 1990s.

“Mánes means something in the history of contemporary art in Prague. It
was always the place where the most important events occurred, where the
best people – like maybe Fila or Lhoták – exhibited. So for me it’s
the most important exhibition I had in my career in Prague.”

Jiří Votruba, photo: archive of Jiří Votruba
The first show at the newly refurbished venue features paintings by the
caricaturist and illustrator Ivan Steiger, who in his time has produced
cartoons for newspapers such as The Times and Le Figaro.

Jiří Votruba welcomes the reopening of what he calls perhaps the only
kunsthalle in Prague – but wonders what the future holds.

“We will see in the very near future which way Mánes will go – I mean
if the level of exhibitions will be as high as in history. Because I think
the foundation that reconstructed Mánes has borrowed some money and
perhaps this could mean that the exhibitions there would be maybe based on
commerce. This is the danger. But we will see soon.”

For now visitors will be confined to the two levels of Mánes’s gallery.
The office spaces whose rent will contribute to the running of the complex
have not yet received construction approval.

Neither has a restaurant at the back of the building that promises
stunning views across the Vltava. Its operators say they hope to have it up
and running by the end of the summer.